title: Factors associated with the timing of antenatal care seeking in Bangladesh.
abstract: This study investigates the factors affecting the timing of antenatal care (ANC) seeking among Bangladeshi women using the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data. Overall, 52% of the most recently pregnant women sought skilled ANC. The most pronounced reason for not receiving the services was that it was "not needed." Of the women who sought ANC, 57% entered for ANC at the fourth month or later. The multivariate regression analysis revealed that maternal age, women's education, residence, wealth index, pregnancy intention status, child's birth order, and wanting more children were the important determinants of ANC services utilization. Wanting more children and contraception use were no longer independent contributors to late ANC entry. These barriers should also be addressed as part of health interventions through information education and communication programs to early entry to ANC. The need to reduce financial barriers to care is a major implication of this study.
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh kamaliubd@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: S M Mostafa
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Che Hashim
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Nazrul
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Islam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001459:Bangladesh; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bangladesh; antenatal care; logistic regression; pregnancy; women’s education